The remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) will start from September 19, confirmed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla. Earlier the BCCI had announced that the remainder of the season will be held in the UAE in the September-October window, and now Shukla has finally confirmed the dates.
Incidentally, the tournament was halted on May 4. BCCI and IPL Governing Council unanimously had decided to postpone the league on May 4 after a couple of COVID cases emerged in the bio-bubble. Few cricketers along with support staffs contracted the deadly virus which led the organizers to halt the tournament midway putting the safety of the players and all the stakeholders involved on top.
Every team will get sufficient gaps for T20 World Cup: Rajeev Shukla
The October 15 finish will make a hustle for the players as the T20 World Cup is expected to begin around October 18; dates haven’t been confirmed by the ICC though.
On the little gap between the IPL and the T20 World Cup, Rajeev Shukla opined that the small gap shouldn’t be a problem as the initial phase of T20 World Cup is likely to involve non-Test playing nations.
“IPL will be held between September 19 and October 15,” Rajeev Shukla told IANS on Wednesday.
“There should be no problem with the gap. The first phase of the T20 World Cup will comprise qualifiers [according to BCCI’s knowledge]. So the main teams like India and others will get sufficient gap,” he added.
We will release the dates and venue of the T20 World Cup only in July: ICC
The ICC has said that they will release the dates and venues of the T20 World Cup next month after talks with the BCCI, who have been reportedly given the deadline of June 28 to make their case of hosting the tourney in India. Otherwise, the ICC is keen on taking it to the UAE; they have also put Oman as a potential co-host.
“We will release the dates and venue of T20 World Cup only in July. We cannot comment on it as of now. But there is no rule on the need of a gap ahead of an ICC event. The ICC needs 10 days to prepare the pitch and the ground ahead of an event. That too is a norm and not a rule,” said an ICC official.
“The rest of it is still being worked out between the BCCI and the ICC. We can talk about it only later,” the official added.
